


Shake It Out

by Temporaryblissx



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Daddy Harry, F/M, Parent Fic, holmes chapel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-05-11
Packaged: 2018-03-25 01:09:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3791002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Temporaryblissx/pseuds/Temporaryblissx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie always knew that keeping the fact that Harry had a child from him would be near impossible. She wasn't an idiot. But she didn't think it would happen this soon. She never imagined it to play out like this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not really sure where this came from, but the idea hit me and would not leave me alone until I wrote it down. Hopefully you guys will bare with me and give it a chance!

_Harry Styles headed back to his roots?_  
 _Posted by Daily Mail Staff Writer_  
  
 _“Looks like the pop star has had enough of the hectic Los Angeles lifestyle._  
  
 _Harry Styles, 21, has been spending almost every free moment from the band jet setting off to Los Angeles where the singer has a two story mansion in the heart of the city._  
  
 _Apparently the One Direction star is fed up with the constant parties and attention he draws in the city, because a close insider said last week  that Styles revealed he’ll be spending the rest of his free time after the end of the current tour back home in Cheshire._  
  
 _It seems that insider was right, as Styles was seen catching a flight last night out of Sydney, Australia the moment the show ended, leaving no time to have celebratory drinks with the rest of the band and crew._  
  
 _“I think he's really homesick,” another source says. “He hasn't spent any time at home in a while, and even though  his family does come out to Los Angeles to visit, it just isn't the same.”_  
  
 _After touching down in London Heathrow airport and quickly pushing past paparazzi and sliding into a black sedan, no other pictures of the international super star have surfaced telling us that in fact, the 21 year old has made it home to Cheshire and plans to stay out of the spotlight for a while._  
  
“But mama, I don't want to go to grandmas.”  
  
Charlie tore her eyes away from the article she was reading on her phone at the feel of two tiny hands pulling at her shirt. Hazel eyes met emerald orbs and a small smile peaked out. “I know you don't wanna go to grandmas, but mummy’s got to work.”  
  
The three year old looked up at her mother, her frown only seeming to set deeper  into her features. “Why can't I come with you?”  
  
“Because,” Charlie leaned down, outstretching her arms and her little one instantly jumped up, attaching herself to her chest, before Charlie straightened back up and hugged her tightly to her chest. “It's gonna be very busy today so I won't be able to keep an eye on you. But if you promise to be a good girl with grandma today, when I get pick you up, we’ll go to the bakery, how's that sound?”  
  
Piper’s eyes lit up at the mention of going to the bakery and she instantly nodded enthusiastically, her dirty blonde curls seeming to fly in every direction at her movement. “I'll be good mama, I promise!”  
  
“That's a good girl.” Charlie responded, pressing a kiss to her forehead before gently setting her back down on her feet, her tiny studded converse making a soft thud on the hardwood flooring. “Now go and get your backpack so we can get going. And don't forget your coloring book.” Before she could even finish her sentence, Piper had already turned on her heel,  running back towards the hallway where her room was nestled in the corner. “I remembered already, mama!” She shouted her reply, the sound of toys rustling about from a few feet away.   
  
Charlie smiled to herself before glancing down at the watch nestled on her thin wrist. _Shit._ She hadn't realized she was running so behind. She knew they had a late start that morning, what with Piper refusing to get out of bed on account of needing more _”princess sleep”_ , but she hadn't realized they'd lost so much time. She let out a quiet curse before taking a large sip of her lukewarm coffee and heading back towards her daughter’s bedroom.  
  
“Piper, you ready to go, babe?”   
  
The three year old seemed to pay Charlie no attention as her tiny hands sorted through the stack of posters she'd gotten from her cousin’s teen magazines. “I need my favorite Zayn poster mama. I can't find it.”  
  
Charlie's eyes fell on the poster closest to her on the ground, a mop of dark unruly curls that had since been tamed slightly, and dark green eyes looking back up at her. She leaned down and scooped up the scattered posters, trying to fit them into a neat pile. “We don't have time, sweetheart. You don't need the poster to go to grandma’s. We’ll look for it when we get back.”  
  
“No.” Piper mumbled, flaring out the posters across the ground, determined to find the one she was looking for. Charlie had begun picking up her backpack and turned to scoop up her daughter when she heard a cry of excitement ring out from her daughter. “Found it!” She giggled, holding the poster as high up above her head as her arms would let her.   
  
“Alright, now let's get going.” Charlie held out her hand and Piper grabbed on, pulling her up to a standing position before the two headed out of the room and out towards the kitchen, where Charlie picked up her purse, keys, and cup of coffee that was clearly going to have to be reheated once she finally got to work. Which reminded her, as she glanced down at her watch once again, if she didn't get there soon, they'd start calling wondering where she was.  
  
The drive to her mother’s was quick, as they only lived a few minutes away from each other, something much more convenient now that Piper was born, than before when Charlie dreaded being close enough to her mother that she could constantly drive by and check on her. The short drive was quiet apart from the quiet hum of the iPad playing an episode of Peppa Pig, which kept Piper fully engrossed for the duration of the drive.  
  
They pulled into the driveway and by the time she'd stepped out of the car and was headed to the other side to get Piper out, her mother was already at the door, smile on her face as she waited for her granddaughter to step out. “Hi mum.” Charlie called out with a quick wave before ducking into the car and unbuckling Piper from her car seat. Her attention was still solely on the iPad and she made no attempt of hopping out on her own or grabbing her backpack like she usually did on most mornings. It was amazing how easily it was to entertain little ones with something as simple as that. Charlie reached forward, pulling the iPad out of her grip and hit the lock button at the top, shutting it off and Piper instantly looked up, her big green eyes looking up at her mother, a frown playing on her lips.   
  
“I was watching that, mama.”   
  
“Well you've gotta get out of the car, we’re at grandma’s. I'll leave the iPad and you can watch it just as soon as we get you inside.” At the mention of arriving, Piper took a moment and glanced around, her eyes scanning her surroundings and realizing that she was in fact at her grandma’s and she looked up at the windshield to see her grandmother standing on the front porch step, a knowing smile on her lips once she saw her granddaughter taking notice of her. She raised her hand, making a beckoning motion with her hand, and in a moment before Charlie had time to register what was happening, Piper hopped out of her car seat and out of the car, completely bypassing her mother’s awaiting arms and taking off towards the driveway and up the few porch steps.  
  
“Grandma, grandma!” She shouted excitedly, jumping up and down with her tiny arms flailing above her head once she was within reach. Immediately her grandmother leaned down and Piper attached her arms around her neck before she was being hauled up to a standing position. She nuzzled her neck into her grandma’s neck, inhaling the familiar Chanel scent.  
  
Charlie struggled to gather all of Pipers belongings together, seeing as the three year old had somehow taken everything out of her backpack and strewn it all across the backseat without her realizing it. Once everything was back in its rightful pocket, Charlie shut the car door with her foot, balancing a Frozen backpack thrown over her right shoulder,  a princess lunchbox in one hand, and the iPad in the other. Just as she was making her way up the few steps to the porch, Anne stepped out from inside and into the entryway, a gentle smile on her face.  
  
“Anne!” Piper shouted, her eyes widening and cheeks showcasing a matching pair of dimples at the sight of the woman. She reached out her hands towards Anne, indicating that she wanted to be held by her. The brunette instantly obliged, a tiny laugh escaping her lips as the minuscule blonde was transferred into her arms. She hugged her tightly to her chest, murmuring something quietly in her ear.  
  
” _Miss Anne_ ,” Charlie corrected, her eyebrows raised slightly as she locked eyes with her daughter. “You've got to remember your manners and be polite, Piper.”  
  
“Yes mama.” Piper replied quietly before tucking her face into Anne’s neck.  
  
“Ah, it's alright, Piper. Don't be embarrassed. I don't mind if you call me Anne.” She grinned, pulling her out of her neck a bit to get a look at her. “How lucky for me that I live next door to grandma and get to see you everyday, right?”  
  
“Right!” Piper agreed, her infectious smile making an appearance and causing the three other women around her to grin watching her.  
  
“I'm gonna bake some cookies later on, want to come over and help?” Anne asked her just as she began setting her down gently. Pipers eyes grew to the size of saucers and she quickly turned to her grandma, reaching out and grabbing onto her tan trousers.   
  
“Grandma can I please?” She begged, pulling gently on the material and looking back between her and her mother.  
  
“How could I say no to those puppy eyes?” Her grandma replied and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. “Of course you can!”  
  
“Yay!” Piper exclaimed and clapped her hands together before running past the two women standing in the doorway and into the house. “Grandpa!” Her tiny voice carried outside as she ran deeper into the house looking for her grandfather.   
  
“So she's on a kick where the only thing she wants to eat is spaghetti o’s or princess soup, so hopefully you can convince her to eat something else for lunch.” Charlie informed her mother before passing over the two bags and the iPad. “I've got to go,  but I'll be by to get her at four.”  
  
Her mother nodded, taking the bags into her own hands as she turned towards the front door. “I know the drill, see you then, love.”  
  
&  
  
Charlie had only about an hour and a half left of work and she was actually surprised at how much work she'd gotten done. They'd gotten a shipment of the new collection that needed to be out up on display and with as many people trickling in through the day, it was impressive they were able to get so much set up and put the remainder of the last collection on clearance.  
  
“How much more of this has to go on clearance? I'm tired of switching out these damn tags.” Kate groaned, pulling a white tag off of a cream colored gown only to replace it with a bright red label.  
  
“Not much more,” Charlie replied, reaching up to pull a rack of shirts off the rack. “Just those two racks over there and we’ll have it all finished up.”  
  
“Remind me again how we’re the assistant managers, yet we’re the only ones stuck with tag duty? Isn't there like eight other people working right now? Shouldn't we be doing more manager type things?”  
  
Charlie grinned, rolling her eyes at her best friend as the two continued retagging the clothes. “Alex and Finley are working the registers, Evelyn's on returns, and Noah and Jacob are back in the stock room. I don't know where the others are.” Kate opened her mouth, ready to probably  spit back a remark about finding the others, but Charlie continued on before she could get a word in. “Come on, Kate. It's not so bad. We could be doing something much less exciting, like paperwork or inventory. At least we're out of the back office.”  
  
Kate shrugged her shoulders, her way of acknowledging that was right; last week had been utter tortured being cooped up in the back office, going over piles and piles of paperwork that had been put off until the very last moment. After they'd finally finished that up and somehow survived that ordeal, anything out in the front of the shop was more than rewarding.  
  
“You know, sometimes I really miss just being an associate. I'd come in and get paid to hardly do any work. Most of the time I'd sneak out and spend hours across the street with Henry and no one would even know I was missing.” Kate sighed, referring to the times when she'd be on register duty one moment and end up across the street at her boyfriends record shop where he worked, the next.  
  
Charlie laughed, shaking her head as her nimble fingers quickly pulled off another tag and tossed it into the growing pile beside her. “You know, I really don't know how you got promoted to assistant manager.”  
  
“The world is a flawed place, what can I say?” Kate gave an innocent smile, batting her eyelashes before yanking off another tag and almost tearing the fabric. Charlie pursed her lips at that, and Kate simply shrugged her shoulders, feigning confusion.   
  
“Anyways, it's well worth it, isn't it? You've got a few more responsibilities, but you've got better pay as well.”  
  
“Yeah, the three whole quid _really_ makes a difference. Let me tell you.” Kate stood up, dusting off her tight dark washed jeans as she sauntered over to the rack and pulled off another set of dresses. “I actually have to work now, it sucks.”  
  
Charlie merely rolled her eyes, giving her friend a playful kick in the bum when she was close enough. “Yeah, actually having to work at your job sucks. What a horrible world we live in.”  
  
“I know, it's just not right. Is this what our kids have to look forward to?” Kate spoke in mock horror, her eyes closed and hand settled on her chest. “Speaking of children,” she peaked an eye open and grinned, “how's the little munchkin doing?”   
  
“Shes really good.” Charlie grinned, her mood instantly heightening at the thought of her little one. “Mum just sent me this really cute photo of her helping Anne bake cookies.”  
  
Kate leaned over, her blue eyes scanning over the picture, the smile on her pink frosted lips faltering slightly a moment later. “It's a bit weird though, innit?”  
  
“Hmm?” Charlie questioned, not catching onto what she was referring to. She slid her phone back into her cardigan pocket before continuing her tagging. She only had three more shirts to tag before she'd finally be finished. Her hands started to work faster at the thought.  
  
“Well, you know,” Kate trailed off, letting out a soft curse when her tagging machine jammed and wouldn't pierce the dress. She hit it a couple times against the palm of her hand until she heard the quiet click, signaling it was working again. “The fact that she's over there all the time.”  
  
“Why’s that weird?” She asked, standing up to place the shirts back on the black hangers and place them in their rightful spots along the wall. Her heeled boots hardly gave her enough leverage to reach the top rack where she needed to hang them, and after a couple failed attempts, she finally made contact with the rack, and stood back to admire her work. The shirts were hanging a bit crooked, but that was besides the point.  
  
“Because it's her grandkid and she doesn't even know it. It's almost like cruel to let her be around Piper so much and have no clue its her own blood.” Charlie turned to look at Kate through narrowed eyes. Kate quickly threw her hands up in defense. “I'm not saying it's cruel, just that it's _almost_ cruel. Don't you think you should tell her?”  
  
“You know I can't do that.” Charlie mumbled back her reply, reaching out for the tagged dresses Kate had laid out. She handed them over and she turned, hooking each one carefully onto the rack.   
  
“Yeah I know. I was just saying.”   
  
“Besides,” Charlie chewed on her bottom lip as she turned back around and took her previous spot on the ground. “Isn't it enough that I let her spend so much time with her? It's almost like making up for the fact that I can't tell her.”  
  
“You wouldn't let her spend so much time with her if she didn't live next door to your mum.”  Kate countered with a knowing smile and Charlie could do was mumble a _shut up_.“If it makes you feel any better, I don't think you even have to tell her. That kid looks identical to him, anyone with eyes knows who that kid belongs to. That's probably why she has such a soft spot for her.”  
  
Charlie shook her head, shaking off her words. She highly doubted Anne knew. There would be no reason for her to. The only people who knew the truth were her mum and Kate. She knew neither of them had told, and there was no way she would’ve figured it on her own. Her and Harry were hardly on speaking terms when Piper was conceived, so there wasn't even any reasonable doubt for her to go on. “Then why do you have such a soft spot for Piper? She's not your blood.” She teased, knowing just how much Kate talked about Piper on a daily basis, almost more than Charlie did. _Almost._  
  
“Fine. You got me there. But it's only because that kid is so sweet, she's rotten. I don't even wanna think about what it's gonna be like when she's older.” Kate let out a whistle, shaking her head. “She's gonna be trouble.”   
  
Just then, a few feet away, the front doors opened and Kate's eyes landed on the new arrivals. “Oi!” Kate shouted when she caught sight of Tamsin and Alice walking through the doors, laughing about something Tamsin had said. At the sound of Kate’s voice, their laughter died in their throats and they looked over at her with wide eyes. They quickly began heading for the back room. “Oi! You two better not have gone on a smoke break! You two have jobs to do! Leave me to do the slacking off.”  
  
&  
  
“Only one, Piper. Alright?” Charlie’s hazel eyes looked into wide green eyes as she watched the little girl nod her head feverishly, in a hurry to get into the bakery. Her mum had said Piper had been going off about going to the bakery all day so she knew she was hardly paying her any attention. She also knew once she got inside that no matter who was working, when Piper stepped inside and turned on her charm, they'd be packing free treats into her bag to last for days.  
  
Charlie straightened up and took a few steps forward, pushing open the door to the bakery and the sound of the bell hanging above the door sounded, signaling their entrance. Immediately, Piper’s eyes lit up when she saw Carol and Theresa behind the counter. The two women were especially sweet on her, and she knew full well that she’d be leaving with more blueberry scones than she’d know what to do with. One look at the pure excitement on her little ones face, and it was clear her heart was practically ready to burst.  It took her no time at all to take off in the direction of the two women, their eyes widening and smiles appearing when they took notice of the little girl.

“My, my, what a treat we’ve got today! We get to see little miss Piper.” Carol announced, coming around the counter and leaning down to scoop the tiny blonde into her arms. “You’ve gotten so big in just a weeks time, it feels like.” Piper enthusiastically nodded her head, her mess of curls flying in every which direction. “Let’s come have a look at which treats look good, yeah?”

Charlie hadn’t noticed that Theresa had slipped into the back room until she reappeared a moment later, setting down a tray of fresh oatmeal cookies and wiping her hands off on her apron. She then pushed open the door to the back once more, and peaked her head in. “The two of you get out here and come have a look at Piper.”

Charlie’s eyes drifted to her daughter and she watched as the three year old lit up with the thought of more people coming to shower her in attention. She was a bit of a little starlet and begrudgingly, she knew exactly where she got it from. Charlie felt her phone vibrate and she pulled her attention from the love fest, and her daughter getting passed around to dig into her bag and retrieve her phone. She slid her finger across the screen and punched in her code before she clicked on a text.

_From: Kate_

__

_You won’t believe who’s back in town._

Charlie rolled her eyes, figuring it was another one of Kate’s friends from London that’d she undoubtedly try to hook Charlie up with, even though she’d shot the idea down numerous times. She began typing back a quick response, but her fingers stilled on the screen and her head shot up at the sound of her daughter’s shocked voice.

“Mama!”

It was almost like a scene from a movie. Or the realization that the world was playing a cosmic joke on her. She felt the air leave her lungs and she was almost positive her heart stopped for a millisecond. When Theresa had called into the back telling the others to come and see Piper, she’d assumed it was Maya, or Derek, maybe even the owner Paula. The manager Samuel had come out from the back, and that was no surprise, Samuel was always there. He was probably at the bakery more than he was at home. But the other person who’d made an appearance had to be some kind of sick joke. It had to be her mind playing out the worst possible scenario that could happen.

“Mama!” Piper shouted again, her green eyes wide and pointing in their direction. “Do you know who that is?” Her voice was filled with absolute excitement and was sure that she was kicking her legs right about now so that she could be put on the floor and run in their direction, but Charlie couldn’t pull her eyes away from him.

“Charlie.” his deep voice rang in her ears and she had to remind herself to breathe. If not for her sake, then at least for Piper’s. “Long time no see.”

“Hi Harry.” Her voice sounded so foreign to her. She wasn’t even sure if the words had actually come out of her mouth. It was like her mouth had it’s own mind and it didn’t care if Charlie wanted to speak to him or not.

“Mama!” Piper wailed and Charlie finally tore her eyes away from the man walking towards her to look over to her daughter who was squirming in Samuel’s arms. He set her down after a couple seconds and she came running towards her mother full force, slamming into her legs when she wasn’t able to stop herself. “Mama, you _know_ Harry Styles?”

This, Charlie concluded, was probably the worst moment in her entire life. Her hazel eyes switched from one pair of emerald orbs to the next. Did she know Harry Styles? Of course she did, maybe a little more than she’d like to admit. Well, technically she didn’t know _this_ Harry Styles that was standing in front of her, fully grown, all remnants of an awkward teenage boy gone, and replaced with a fit, confident man with his hair pulled back into a tight bun, and wearing a tunic that she was sure cost more than two months rent on her apartment. So she could say no.

“You’ve got a daughter?” Harry asked, a smile slowly making it’s way onto his pink lips as he took in the small girl standing a foot away from him. The familiar dimple made it’s appearance as he crouched down and held out his hand. “Hello there, love. My name is Harry. I’m friends with your mummy.”

It was then Piper’s turn for her dimpled smile to appear as she delicately slid her tiny hand into his much larger one, engulfing it completely, three times over. “How is Harry Styles friends with my mummy? She’s not cool enough.”

Charlie closed her eyes, bringing a hand up to her left temple. The situation only seemed to get worse the more time passed. She watched the two exchange a few words about One Direction and how she was so sorry but he was her third favorite, right behind Zayn and Louis. It was almost like God would rather torture her with this, watching the two of them together like this, mimicking each other’s every move, insteading of simply striking her down for all the wrong she’d done in her life. She considered running into oncoming traffic when Harry finally stretched back up to his full height, seemingly looming over Charlie as his inquisitive eyes watched her warmly.

“She’s gorgeous, Charlie.” He leaned down slightly to hold up his hand for a high five, which Piper happily obliged before she was running back in the direction of the display case and the three others who were waiting to fill up her goodie bag. “How old is she?”

Charlie forced out a laugh, reaching up and pushing a strand of her dirty blonde hair behind her ear. “Thank you. She’s three and a half.” Charlie swallowed harshly, her eyes looking everywhere but into his eyes. This conversation was unbearingly awkward and she just wanted to get out of there. She shot a glance in Piper’s direction and saw that Carol was holding her as she leaned forward and continued to pick out treats. Charlie suppressed a groan.

“So you’re married then?” He figured, Charlie not missing the way his green eyes swept over her left hand searching for a ring. She self consciously slid her hand into her romper’s pockets, shaking her head gently. “Uh, no. Just Piper and me.” She forced out another laugh, this one more pained and fake than the first. He must’ve felt how thick the air had gotten. Why didn’t he just stop speaking

His smile dropped a bit at her confession, but his eyes held a curious look to them at the admission. “I see. Well, you’re doing an amazing job with her.” His eyes trailed over to watch Piper pick her last treat before Samuel began closing up her bag with a white twist tie. She took turns thanking each one of them, and hugging them as tightly as her little arms would allow before she was set back down on the ground and she took her time walking back towards Charlie, her green eyes entirely focused on the bag in her hands.

“Thanks.” Charlie nodded, a small smile coming out at the praise. “She’s a really good girl, but she does use her charm to get extra treats.” Piper came into her arms reach and she scooped her up, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Don’t you, Piper?” the little girl just giggled at her mother’s kisses and held her bag of treats up for them to see.

“We should get dinner soon.” Harry said suddenly, reaching into his back pocket to retrieve his phone. “It’s been so long since we’ve talked. I really wanna catch up.”

Charlie sucked in a breath. Harry wanted to get dinner with her. Harry wanted them to sit down and talk about what they’d been up and what’s happened since the last time they’d seen one another. The weight in her arms suddenly felt a lot heavier and her eyes fell onto Piper’s smiling face. The little one hadn’t missed Harry request and now she was watching Charlie with an expectant gaze.

“That’s um, it’s really not a good idea.” Charlie finally sputtered out a few moments later. She didn’t miss the way both of their faces dropped. “It’s just with work, and Piper, i’m really busy and no one can really watch her.” He nodded in understanding, any remnants of a smile gone as he dropped his eyes down to his phone held tightly in his hand. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s alright. I understand completely. I can’t just show up in your life again and expect you to drop everything just to go out and have dinner.” Of course he had found a way to make her feel guilty about not wanting to go to dinner. It wasn’t like she was in the wrong. She _was_ busy, she was a single mum, she really didn’t have time to be going to dinner with international pop stars. It was nothing but trouble and she knew it.

“Well, I better get going. I’ve still got to go to Tesco after this.” Charlie nodded towards the door  and slowly began to head in that direction. There was nothing else to be said. She didn’t want to have dinner, _couldn’t_ have dinner because this was the first time he’d been back since Piper was conceived and she knew that if they got to talking, it would all come out and everything she’d worked so hard to keep quiet, would come out and ruin everything. So she couldn’t indulge in having dinner with Harry Styles. Even if he did look unforgivingly handsome and better than he did in all of Piper’s posters. She just had to get out of there and never speak to him again.

“Wait, Charlie.” Harry called out to her once she was just about to reach for the door handle. She gingerly set Piper down on the ground and held out her hand for her to grab before they headed outside. She turned at the sound of his voice and held her breath and whatever he was about to say. “Can I at least have your number? It’s been ages since I’ve seen you. I never got a chance to get your new number after the last time I was here.”

Charlie could feel the knife sliding into her chest. She knew exactly what he was referring to. After the last time he’d been home, she’d ignored all of his calls. He’d called a few times a month at first, and she’d debated blocking his number, but she couldn’t force herself to do it. After a couple of months though, he gave up calling altogether and he hadn’t made a trip back to Holmes Chapel after the last time and she figured that was the last of Harry Styles in her life.

“I’ve got the same number.” Charlie confirmed with a small smile, shrugging her shoulders. She watched his face contort into confusion and he opened his mouth to surely tell her about the times he’d called with no response but she quickly continued. “Had a bit of spotty service with the last company, so I switched, but kept the same number.” she effortlessly covered herself. “Is yours still the same?” she asked, although she knew she had no intent of ever calling him.

He nodded, his smile returning to his features as he glanced down at his iphone. “Same number since sixth form.” he confirmed.

Charlie glanced down to find Piper completely enamored with watching Harry and she quickly pushed open the door to the bakery. She had to get out of there. “Well, i’ll see you around, Harry.”

 **  
** “Yeah, hopefully.” he replied, watching as she spared him one last glance, their eyes locking onto one another’s for a moment too long for her liking before she headed out of the bakery and out towards her white Ford Focus settled on the edge of the street. Charlie could feel his eyes on her the entire walk back to the car, but she didn’t dare look back.  Harry Styles was back and it was starting to feel like fate has some personal vendetta against her.


	2. Chapter 2

_“Alright class, you’ve got thirty minutes before break is up.”_

__

_Charlie pulled her hazel eyes away from her teacher as she peered out across the playground. She’d moved to Holmes Chapel a couple of months ago and still hadn’t managed to make any friends. She’d been extremely discouraged at first; even cried a few times into her mother’s chest at the fact that she couldn’t find anyone to be her friend at school. But each time, her mother would simply rub her back in a gentle, soothing motion and assure her in a soft voice. ‘Don’t you worry yourself, Charlie. You’re only eight years old. You’ll have plenty of time to make new friends.’_

__

_Charlie turned her attention to the far end of the playground where a group of about five girls from her class were playing what appeared to be red light, green light. A smile formed on her pink lips as she straightened out her school uniform, tiny hands smoothing out any wrinkles in her polo and her plaid skirt before taking off in a hurry towards the group. She didn’t want to take to long and show up just as they were finishing up the game._

__

_As soon as she slowed to a walk and was just a couple feet away from the other girls, she gave a friendly smile as she brought her hand up and gave a tiny wave. “Did you guys want another player?” she asked in a small voice, her nervousness shining right through. She watched them with hopeful eyes, wanting nothing more to have someone to play with, and not have to spend another day of break kicking around a ball on her own or sitting silently next to the teacher while she watched the others play._

__

_The group of girls had been laughing loudly and jumping around excitedly a moment ago, but now as they stared back at the newest arrival, each one of their smiles dropped off of their faces and instead were replaced with frowns. They each took turns staring at her harshly before exchanging looks with one another. The tallest one in the group, a brunette with bright blue eyes called Emma, stepped forward, the tiny heels on her mary janes clacking against the pavement. Her arms slowly reached up and she crossed them over her chest, a grimace settled on her features._

__

_“I already told you you can’t be in our group.”_

__

_Charlie felt her heart fall into the pit of her stomach at the rejection. She knew that the girl’s didn’t exactly like her, but that’d been two weeks ago when they’d turned her away. She’d assumed that enough time had passed and that they maybe would’ve given her a chance. Her hands gripped the material of her skirt tightly, fingers wound into the fabric. “I just want to play. You don’t have to let me play all the time, maybe just this once.”_

__

_Her hazel orbs looked across the group of girls, hoping to see at least one of them giving in and nodding along for her to play. But the longer she looked at each of them, the deeper the scowls on their faces became. She swallowed the lump in her throat and dropped her eyes down to her pair of black mary janes._

__

_“We already said no.” Emma’s voice was louder then; harsher, as she looked down at the girl in front of her. “What don’t you get about that?”_

__

_Charlie remembered what her cousin had told her when she’d explained about the kids at school. She’d told her to stand up for herself. When the kids would be mean or cruel for no reason, she needed to remember to not let them step all over her, and instead let them know that she could and would defend herself. She lifted her eyes up to meet Emma’s and her face was determined as she spoke up. “Well, why can’t I play? That’s not fair!”_

__

_Emma rolled her eyes at that, pushing back a strand of her smooth hair, her sparkling pink nails catching on the sun. Her blue eyes dragged up Charlie’s body slowly, disgust painted on her features.“Because we don’t like you, Charlotte. You’re weird.” The eight year old’s voice was filled with venom and it hit Charlie deep in her chest. She watched as the other girls nodded along to her words and she suddenly felt like throwing up. She casted her eyes back down to the ground._

__

_“I’m not weird.” she mumbled, barely audible over the sound of the other children playing and shouting across the play area. She heard one of the girls laugh, she wasn’t sure who it was, assumed it was Lily. Standing up for herself was harder than she thought. The girls would only say meaner things to her and she wasn’t sure how to respond back. She wasn’t good with her words like her cousin, Sophie, who was in sixth form._

__

_“Yeah you are. And we don’t want you playing with us. Leave us alone.” A chorus of ‘yeahs’ rang loudly in Charlie’s ears and she could feel the familiar burning sensation in her nose. She quickly blinked back the water forming in her eyes as she tried to figure out what had made these girls want to be so cruel to her. She’d never done anything wrong to them; had only asked to play with them a couple of times, maybe even tagged along a few times when they headed down to the lunchroom, but she’d never done anything outright to anger them._

__

_“Why am I weird? Just let me play with you guys.” She could hear the tears in her voice and she knew she wasn’t going to be able to hold them back. Now along with hating her, the girls were going to think she was a crybaby as well. She’d done good about not crying in front of them whenever they were cruel. She’d usually hold it in until she’d gotten home and had the comfort of her own room to shed her tears, or some days when they were just cruel enough to the point that she couldn’t hold it in for a couple more hours, she’d excuse herself and ask to go to the bathroom, quietly letting the tears fall down her cheeks and messily wiping them away before returning back to class. But this time; she wasn’t sure why she couldn’t hold it in this time. She brought her hand up to wipe harshly at the hot tears streaming down her cheeks. A tiny smile peaked out on Emma’s face at the sight and she took another step forward._

__

_“Just stay away from us, you sissy. We’re tired of you bothering us.” Then she stepped close enough to where there was no room between them and threw her hands up, giving the smaller girl a hard shove. The action caught Charlie off guard and she lost her balance, her arms flailing out before her bottom came in harsh contact with the pavement. The whole group of girls were laughing then, and Charlie’s cloudy eyes instantly searched for the teacher. She was lost in conversation with another of the teachers and her stomach only tightened in knots further at that._

__

_“What’s the matter with you, Emma?”_

__

_Charlie’s head whipped around at the sound of the voice and the loud laughter of the girls instantly quieted. Charlie watched as a boy with bright green eyes and a mess of dark curls came stomping closer to them, his features contorted in a deep frown. Once he was within arm’s length, he crouched down and held out a hand, reaching for Charlie. His face held a friendly smile when he peered down at her, deep set dimples appearing as she brought a shaky hand forward and slipped it into his. He gently pulled her up into a standing position before the smile was gone and he was back to staring at the girls._

__

_“Why’d you push her like that, Emma?”_

__

_Emma merely shrugged, her pink nails scratching at the skin on her arm. “Cause she wouldn’t leave us alone. Kept asking us to play with her.”_

__

_“So you had to push her?” The boy questioned, her voice strong for someone their age. Charlie wrung her hands tightly together as she watched the boy chastise her._

__

_“Come on, Harry. I hardly pushed her.” Emma defended, her blue eyes landing on Charlie for a second before returning back to the boy. “Besides, she’s way weird. It’s the only way to get her to see I’m serious.”_

__

_Charlie had seen this boy hanging out with Emma. Sometimes at lunch they’d sit together, and even a few times she’d seen them playing together on the playground with a few other kids so she wasn’t exactly sure why he was standing up for her. Emma was his friend, and he was calling her out for someone he didn’t even know._

__

_“I don’t care what she did, or how much she annoyed you, you don’t ever need to push her. Or anyone for that matter.” His voice was stern and his arms were crossed along his chest. The other girls had their heads turned down to their feet and Emma’s determined features had fallen considerably. “Tell her you’re sorry.”_

__

_Charlie’s head snapped to her right to stare at the boy beside her. What was he doing? He didn’t need to make her do that. She didn’t want Emma to be more upset with her and end up pushing her around some more in the future over this She just wanted to play with them, and if they didn’t want her to, that was fine. She’d just sit with Ms. Davis for break time from then on. Charlie’s eyes fell to Emma’s shocked expression. “She doesn’t have to say sorry, it’s okay.” her tiny voice came out and she tried to ignore the fact that the rest of the girls had their eyes on her now._

__

_Harry turned towards her, his face softening slightly. “No, she does need to. That was really mean and you didn’t deserve it.” His attention turned back to Emma and he raised his eyebrows slightly. “Tell her you’re sorry, or I’m telling your teacher. And then i’ll tell your mum.” His eyes landed on each one of the other four girls. “And you guys all tell her you’re sorry for being mean.”_

__

_Emma let out a long sigh, her lips pursed as she pushed back some of her hair from her face. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking in a long breath, before turning to face Charlie. “I’m sorry for pushing you.” she glanced over to Harry and he raised his eyebrows once more. “And for being mean to you.”_

__

_“It’s okay.” Charlie replied back instantly, not wanting her to be upset with her. Honestly, it was alright. She didn’t realize it herself, but maybe she was weird and she’d been bothering people without even realizing it. She just didn’t want Emma to find even more reason to hate her. She then was met with the chorus of apologies from the rest of the girls before Harry gave them a short nod and they turned away, heading further down the playground, their heads pushed together in hushed whispers._

__

_Charlie knew there was still a bit of break time left, judging by the fact that the hands on her princess watch hadn’t moved by much. She wasn’t able to read clocks yet, but when she saw it in the shops, she had begged her father for hours until they’d gone back to the shop and picked it up for her. Ms. Davis had said they’d be learning how to tell time soon, so she wasn’t all that worried about it. She dusted off the back of her skirt before turning on her heel and beginning to head towards the teacher’s area under the shade. She didn’t want to be in the sun anyways._

__

_“Where you going?”_

__

_Charlie hadn’t realized Harry was still there. She’d assumed that after the girls dispersed that he would’ve returned to his group of friends as well. She turned to find him looking at her with a gentle smile on his lips. She watched him for a long moment, taking in his features when she remembered that he’d asked her something. “Oh, um,” her eyes darted over to the teacher’s area. She didn’t want to tell him that’s where she was headed. Maybe he didn’t think she was weird, and that’s why he’d stood up for her. But if she told him where she was going, he’d surely rethink his choices. “I’m just-”_

__

_“Me and my friends are playing double dutch with the skipping rope.” He motioned a few feet away to where a group of about eight kids were taking turns hopping into the ropes while the others cheered them on. They were mostly boys, only two girls, but they seemed to be having a ton of fun, each one of them laughing harder than the next. “It’s not that exciting, but we have fun. You wanna come?”_

__

_He was asking her to play. Harry was asking her to play. She didn’t even have to beg for him to give her a chance. He actually wanted her to play. She felt her chest bubbling up at the thought and self consciously wiped at her face one last time, making sure she hadn’t missed any tears. “I’ve never skipped rope before.” she said timidly, her eyes following the movement of the two ropes moving in sync with one another._

__

_“I’ll show you, it’s not hard.” Harry assured her, his hand reaching out and grabbing onto hers. He instantly began leading them over to the group. A few seconds later they’d walked up to the group and she watched with nervous eyes as the group quit cheering and skipping rope to look at the two new arrivals. She didn’t recognize any of them, realizing that they must’ve been in the other class with Harry. Instead of being met with harsh glares and deep frowns, she watched as they all smiled and welcomed her in, holding out the rope to her and motioning for her to jump in._

__

_“Guys, this is my friend Charlie. She’s my next door neighbor and she doesn’t know how to skip rope, so I’m gonna teach her.” Harry’s dimpled smile was on display and he grabbed Charlie’s hand tightly._

__

_Charlie glanced up to stare at the boy beside her, her face contorted in confusion for a few moments before realization hit her. She knew that there was a boy her age living next door, her mother had told her so, but she’d never seen him before. She’d only ever seen a slightly older girl coming in and out of the house. She caught a glimpse of the boy once, but it was late at night after she’d just gotten back from the cinemas with her parents and just as they were pulling into the driveway, she’d caught a glimpse of curly dark hair rushing into the house._

__

_Harry must've felt her stare because a moment later, he’d turned his head and his emerald eyes were on her, his bright smile never wavering. She wasn’t sure what it was about Harry smiling at her, but when she looked back at him, she couldn’t help but smile back just as big._

&

“I’m still missing the part where you can’t go out for dinner.”

Charlie groaned as dropped her head back against the pillows on the couch. After her encounter with Harry, she’d made the quickest Tesco run in history before calling Kate in rush and mumbling something out about getting her ass to her flat as quick as possible. Kate had refused to move an inch from her bed, citing the need to finish catching up with Misfits until Charlie promised she’d be cooking her dinner and then Kate assured her she’d be there in half an hour.

Now they were sat on the couch and Charlie had made sure Piper was fed, bathed and put into bed with half of a blueberry scone to keep her occupied before pouring herself a large glass of wine and spilling the events of the day with Kate.

“You know exactly why I can’t go to dinner with him. The answers are practically endless.” Charlie ignored the pursed lips and knowing expression on her best friend’s face as she took a long swig of red wine.

“Yeah, but which of your answers is actually a valid one?” Kate questioned, her legs stretching out along the couch, her feet resting on Charlie’s lap. “Honestly, there isn’t one reason why you can’t have a friendly catch up.”

“Seriously, Kate?” Charlie’s eyes were wide as she ran a hand through her messy waves. “It would be anything but a friendly catch up. You know there’s no way i’d be able to simply chat about the weather and what we’ve been up to in the past three years and not come clean about Piper. It’s completely unavoidable.”

Kate held a finger up, taking a sip of her wine before setting it down gently on the table and bringing her hands together in a silent clap. “While I personally think he should know about Piper and the fact that he’s her father,” she watched Charlie open her mouth to interrupt and she quickly threw a finger up, silencing her. “I understand why you can’t. You want a quiet life, you don’t the two of you guys in the limelight, you don’t want him worrying about you guys, all that, I get it. One hundred percent. But that doesn’t mean you can’t catch up. If Piper comes up, just tell the truth, in a manner of speaking. You can say that you were with the father, but it didn’t work out. You don’t have to say anything more than that. It’ll never come back and bite you in the ass, because you’re not lying. You’re just not saying it’s him.” Charlie appeared to be deep in thought and Kate let out a tiny sigh before leaning forward and setting a hand on her lap. “I really think you should go, Charlie. You guys were best friends before any of this and I’m sure he misses that friendship.”

Charlie let out a tiny scoff, rolling her eyes. “I wouldn’t go that far. He’s got all those super famous friends now. I’m sure the last thing on his mind is his childhood friendship with a girl who can’t do any better than assistant manager at Top Shop.”

“Hey!” Kate whined, pinching the skin just above Charlie’s elbow. “You’re talking about me too, now!” Charlie laughed out an apology before Kate released her grip on her skin. “But honestly, think about it. He’s constantly surrounded by all these famous people all the time. I’m sure it’d feel nice to catch a break from all the glitz and glamour and be able to catch up with someone from home, someone who reminds him of life before it all went insane.” Kate finished, holding her hands up in a circling motion before shrugging her shoulders and watching Charlie’s reaction.

“When did you become so insightful? Half the time, I can barely get you to have a serious conversation with me about something important.” Charlie teased, reaching forward and giving her friend a pinch on her arm of her own. Kate squealed at the contact before yanking her arm away.

“I’ll have you know, Henry thinks i’m extremely insightful. It’s not my fault you don’t appreciate me enough to see that for yourself.” Kate held a hand up over her heart and had the biggest smile on her face as she turned her nose up.

“He probably just says that because he’s your boyfriend and wants to get in your pants.”

“Well, it’s working, isn’t it?” The two looked at one another for a few seconds before busting out into laughter. Charlie wasn’t sure if it was the wine helping her have such a good time, or if she just really needed to have this talk with Kate after being so wound up from earlier. She was eternally grateful for moments like this, to have Kate in her life and keeping her sane.

“So you really think I should go?” Charlie asked, her voice did nothing to hide the nervousness she had bubbling up in her chest. Sure, there was an extremely small piece of her that was curious of what it’d be like to go to dinner with Harry, it wasn’t like she could completely deny any curiosity, but she just wasn’t sure if it was worth her secret potentially unraveling.

“Yeah, I really do.” Kate said with a nod.

“But what if he wants to hang out again after that?”

“I’m not seeing why that would be a problem.” Kate responded, her shoulders raising in a small shrug before she brought the glass up to her red lips.

“If I end up making a habit out of hanging out with him, I know it’s eventually gonna come out that he’s her father.”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Kate held her hand up before shaking her head. “One step at a time her, sister. Now you’re just getting ahead of yourself assuming that international pop star, the  Harry Styles would want to make hanging out with you a regular thing.” Kate playful grin was on her face as she swished the remaining wine in her glass.

“Oh shut up.” Charlie rolled her eyes, pushing her feet off her lap and dropping them onto the ground.

+

Charlie ran her hands down along her sides as she peered back at herself in the full length mirror in her bedroom for what seemed like the hundredth time. She wasn’t sure why she was getting so worked up. It was just dinner, just a simple little catch up with an old childhood friend and once that was out of the way, she’d never have to speak to him again. Not that he’d want to anyways; he was an internationally known popstar wanted by millions of girls across the world. Anytime he went anywhere, he probably had a minimum of at least ten girls dropping to their knees in front of him. Charlie knew he was just asking her out for dinner for old time's sake, to make himself feel better, to know that he might’ve been extremely famous now with millions of pounds to spare, but he still had a heart of gold underneath it all and still made time for old friends.

So after running through all of that in her mind and wholeheartedly convincing herself that that was indeed what was happening, she couldn’t seem to fathom why this was the eighth time she’d changed, and still wasn’t satisfied with what she was wearing. The little nagging feeling in the back of her mind wouldn’t let up and she was continuously reminded every time that she shot herself another glance in the mirror that maybe she did care a bit about what Harry thought of her when he’d see her later that night.

“Mama, where are you going?”

Charlie turned around at the sound of the curious voice. Piper was standing in the doorway with wide green eyes looking up at her. She was fresh out of the bathtub and was clad in her favorite princess pajamas that Anne had bought her for Christmas. She took a few more steps into the bedroom, taking in Charlie’s outfit choice. “You look so nice, mama. Are you going to work?”

Charlie shot herself one last glance in the mirror before shaking her head and giving her daughter a soft smile. “No baby, i’m not going to work.” She walked the rest of the way to Piper before scooping her up into her arms and holding her close to her chest. Tiny hands instantly slithered around her neck and she felt little puffs of air hitting her neck. “I’m just going to go out for a little bit.”

“Go where?” Piper pressed, nuzzling her nose into Charlie’s neck before pulling back a moment later. Her wide green eyes watched her expectantly as she waited for an answer. Charlie swallowed harshly as she looked down at the little girl in her arms. How could she delicately put out there that she was going to have a bit of a catch up with an old friend that happened to be-”

“Your mama’s going on a hot date, kid.” Kate busted into the room, a satisfied smile on her face as she nodded her head. “And you’re having a sleepover party with me.”

“A hot date?” Piper repeated, her eyes somehow widening even more than before, growing impossibly huge. “Who’s mama got a hot date with?” Piper shook her head from one woman to the next. “Not Samuel, right?” Piper gave a little shudder at the thought of the bakery’s manager and Charlie found herself wondering how the little human in her arms was actually three and a half, because she was way beyond her years.

Kate let out a laugh at that, Charlie following soon behind, and Piper wasn’t exactly sure why they were laughing, but decided to join in on the fun and started laughing along with them. “No, Piper. It’s not with Samuel.”

“Good.” Piper gave a firm nod. “Samuel’s nice and gives me extra cookies, but I don’t want him kissing my mama.”

Charlie’s eyebrows raised towards her hairline and she shook her head quickly. “I’m not gonna be kissing anyone, Piper.”

“Never say never.” Kate chimed in, a mischievous smile on her lips as she shot the other woman a wink. Charlie wondered if Kate was starting to have some kind of death wish. She was almost too cheeky with anything involving Harry and Charlie was ready to stop it all right there.

“That’s a song by Justin Bieber!” Piper chimed in, smiling wide as she hummed the chorus to herself a moment later. It only took a couple of seconds of silence for Piper to get back on track though and Charlie had to suppress a groan. “So who is it then, mama?” Piper was clearly growing restless with the guessing game. “Tell me, tell me!”

“Your hot mama, has a hot date with Harry Styles.” Kate cut in before Charlie even had a moment to utter out another word. A loud gasp sounded from Piper and the expression on her face was priceless. Her eyes were the size of saucers and her smile was so wide, Charlie didn’t think she’d ever seen the dimples in her face look so deep.

“Mama!” Piper gripped her tiny hands around her mother’s upper arms. “Is that true? Are you going on a date with Harry?”

“It’s not a date,” she lamely replied, knowing it was no use. She shot Kate the dirtiest look she could muster, hoping it would strike fear into her cold heart, but instead, Kate simply chuckled and made her way to Charlie’s bed, falling into it and watching her basically fall apart on the spot, all the while having quite the laugh at Charlie’s expense.

Charlie didn’t have time to make another comment because a moment later, there was a knock sounding at her apartment door and Piper perked up at that, instantly beginning to squirm in her arms. She gave a gentle kick to Charlie’s thigh, not hard enough to hurt, but just enough to make a point. Charlie set her down, and the little one was off, rushing towards the front door, Kate and Charlie quickly following behind her. “I’ll get it!” Piper excitedly giggled, her tiny sock clad feet pattering against the hardwood floor.

She reached the front door and tried to reach the doorknob a few times to no avail, her tiny arms just missing it by a few inches. She let out a huff of frustration before spinning on her heel and looking up at Kate expectantly. “Katie, can you help me reach the door?”

“Is that how we ask for someone’s help?” Charlie reminded her daughter with a knowing look. Charlie might’ve been dying from nerves in that particular moment, but Piper had a tendency of forgetting her manners and reminding her all too much of her older sister when they were younger.

“Can you help me, _please?_ " she reiterated, batting her dark eyelashes up at Kate. Next thing she knew she was being hoisted up into her arms and turned towards the front door. She successfully turned the bolt after a few tries and gripped the door handle with both hands, pulling it open to find herself face to face with Harry.

She knew exactly who she was going to find when she pulled open the door, but she still gasped loudly anyways and her smile was impossibly wide again as matching green eyes met. “Harry Styles!”

Harry’s chuckle sounded throughout the apartment and Charlie found herself needing to take a deep breath. “Hello there, Piper. Don’t you look adorable tonight?”

A deep blush set on the three year olds cheek at the compliment. She batted her eyelashes some more as she rubbed her hands over her top. “Thank you. Miss Anne got it for me. It’s princesses.”

“Miss Anne?” Harry questioned, his smile widening as he shot a glance over to Charlie in question. She gave a short nod, confirming it was indeed the same Anne and while he should've looked right away, his eyes lingered on her for a few more moments and Charlie got the sudden urge to throw up. Why was she being so nervous? It was ridiculously embarrassing. He finally tore his eyes away from her and returned his attention back to the little one. “You know Miss Anne is my mum?”

Piper’s eyes grew wide and she stared back at Harry in utter surprise. “No way, miss Anne is not your mama!” She shouted in disbelief.

“She is.” Harry chuckled at the little girls antics. His green eyes lifted from the little girl up to the woman holding her. "You must be Kate then, it's nice to meet you." He held his hand out and Kate balanced holding Piper in one hand as she brought her free hand forward to slide into his larger one.

 

"You're way fitter in person." Kate complimented, completely ignoring Charlie's groan and simply smirking instead. "Piper's posters do you no justice."

 

Harry guffawed at her compliment, throwing his head back, his laughter filling the apartment and stirring something up inside of Charlie that she wished wasn't so easy for Harry rile up. "Well I appreciate that. Although most of our pictures they use are usually from around 2012. So it's not the best of comparisons."

 

Piper seemed to have seemingly accepted Harry’s confession about Anne or it simply left her mind because she was no longer concerned with it and instead reached her hand out and set it down on Harry’s arm. She appeared to be fascinated with one of the tattoos on his arm. She promptly turned to Kate and began giggling into her neck.

“What’s the matter with you goof ball?” Kate asked her teasingly, craning her neck back to try and get a look at Piper’s face. The little girl’s laugh finally quieted down a bit and she pulled her face out of her neck to look Kate dead in the eye.

“His mermaid girl has boobies like mama’s.” That set her into another laughing frenzy, Harry’s face had a bit of a blush break out, his large hand coming up to cover it promptly and Charlie tried to not look so fond watching her daughter in a giggle fit, but it was impossible not to and she could feel the smile breaking out across her face.

“Alright giggle monster, it’s time to get our slumber party started and these two gotta get out of here, so say your goodbyes, yeah?” Kate turned to her right and handed her off to Charlie, who pulled her to her chest instantly.

“Mama will be back in a little bit. I probably won’t be back in time to tuck you in, but I love you and in the morning, we’ll go out for some breakfast, alright?” Charlie smiled softly as she gingerly pushed the wild curls from her daughter’s face.  Her fingers rubbed at the baby smooth skin of her cheek as she spoke, knowing just how much Piper loved it and how it could calm her down even in the worst of tantrums.

“Okay mama. Love you too.” Piper responded softly, reaching forward and wrapping her arms around her neck tightly. She pressed her tiny lips close to Charlie’s ears and whispered as quietly as she could. “You’re allowed to kiss Harry Styles. I say so.”

Charlie closed her eyes tightly, pretending that she didn’t hear her say that. Shooting a glance to her right, she could see the tiny smile on Harry’s lips that he was trying desperately to mask; clearly he’d heard her. The last thing she needed to be doing was thinking about kissing Harry. They were on a completely different page. It was just a friendly catch up dinner and that’s all. Piper didn’t know any better and that was fine, but there would be absolutely no kissing to be had.

Charlie gently pulled her away from her chest and passed her back over to Kate. Piper turned around in Kate’s arms and looked up at Harry expectantly and with a touch of sheepishness. “Can I have a goodnight kiss?”  
  


Charlie’s mouth dropped open in absolute shock. Her daughter had more game that she ever did. She was three and a half years old and was already an utter flirt. Charlie glanced over to Kate and she was smirking as she watched Piper look impossibly cute and oh so innocent, once again batting those damn eyelashes.

“How could I say no to such a cute little girl?” Harry replied easily, his dimples making an appearance as he stepped forward and placed a kiss on her tiny hand before proceeding to leave another one on her cheek. Piper absolutely preened with the compliment and the attention and quietly giggled to herself, petting her cheek repeatedly.

“Alright kids, get out of here. Frozen’s just about to start.” Kate got a free hand and gave Charlie a gentle push, sending the two of them out of the apartment with a wink and a discreet encouragingly nod. Charlie rolled her eyes and swallowed a groan as she followed Harry out into the hallway.

“You didn’t have to come up, you could’ve just sent me a text and I would’ve met you down there.”

Harry shook his head, an easy smile on his lips. “Not at all. I don’t mind, and I wanted to see Piper again. You’ve got quite the adorable child.”

There were quiet for the short walk to the lift and out to the parking garage.The silence was surprisingly not awkward, it was kind of nice actually, but it didn’t take long for Charlie’s head to begin filling up with thoughts about how dinner was going to play out and what he was going to ask her and-

“You look really nice, Charlie.” Harry’s deep voice sounded beside her and she was pulled from her thoughts to catch Harry giving her a once over, his eyes lingering a little longer than necessary. Charlie felt herself getting self conscious at the thought of what she was wearing. She seemed to be content with it when she was looking at herself in her room, but now she wasn’t sure if it was all that good of a choice. She was wearing dark skinny jeans and a deep maroon blouse that was cut to show just a bit of cleavage. Maybe Harry was indirectly poking fun. She shook the thought away a moment later knowing Harry had never been like that.

“Thanks. You too.” she murmured, feeling her cheeks heat up. A few more feet and they had reached his Black Range Rover at the corning of the lot. He walked over to the passenger side, promptly opening the door for her and waiting for her to slide in before closing the door behind her and jogging over to his own side.

He started the car up and began punching in an address into his maps app. “So the place I chose is this really nice restaurant down in downtown Manchester. My friend Nick showed me it and they have this really great Italian. Even their wine isn’t all that bad. Though i’m more of a beer man myself.”

“Harry,” her voice was soft and she watched as the hand that had previously been on the gear shift still and then fall to his lap a moment later as he looked over to her questionably.

“What’s wrong?” His voice matched hers in tone and he was looking at her so intensely and she was suddenly aware of how close the two of them really were. She hadn’t realized he had gotten so close until she noticed he had turned his body in the seat slightly, his torso leaning over the center console and his breath was hitting her cheeks, coming out in puffs that smelt like the spearmint gum he was chewing.

“I don’t really feel comfortable going to a nice place.” Charlie started out, not sure how she was supposed to explain herself. “It’s just, i’m sure someone will recognize you and they might take pictures and I really just don’t want any kind of attention like that.” She watched his face drop more with each passing second and she bit down hard enough on her bottom lip to draw blood. “I’m sorry Harry, I didn’t want to ruin your plans or upset you or anything. I just know that anytime you go out, you tend to end up on the cover of every magazine in the Tesco checkout lane and-”

“And you don’t want your face on it too.” Harry finished for her, his voice soft and features pulled down in a deep frown. “I understand, Charlie. You’re right about that. It does seem to end up like a media circus anytime I go out somewhere. Choosing a high profile place like that probably wasn’t the best choice. I respect your privacy, I don’t want to throw you in a situation like that.”

Charlie nodded, thankful that he’d been understanding and he hadn’t gotten upset with her. Well, his expression did appear a little sullen at her words, but it could’ve been worse; he could’ve exploded on her. But once again, Charlie shook that thought away, knowing Harry wasn’t like that at all.

“Well do you have any ideas on where we should go?” Harry chuckled a few moments later. He brought a hand up to his curls, running a hand through them easily and pushing them away from his face. “I came with only one suggestion.” his smile was slowly peaking out again and Charlie found herself watching him smile for far longer than what would be deemed socially acceptable. She remember that he had asked her a question and she quickly racked her brain for an answer.”

“I know this place in Manchester a little ways away from my work that has great hamburgers. It’s not fancy Italian, but it does me well.” Charlie responded with a playful smile of her own and Harry’s eyes twinkled as they watched the girl in the passenger seat.

“You know what?” Harry said, pulling away and relaxing back into his seat before exiting out of the gps and reversing out of the parking spot. “I’m in the mood for a burger myself. Haven’t had a proper one in ages.  Lead the way.”

+

So that was how they ended up at Filthy Cow, a laid back diner where the burgers were served wrapped in greaseproof paper, the onion rings in pouches, and a glass of wine couldn’t be found anywhere on the menu. Charlie sat back in her seat, arms crossed over her chest and a knowing smile on her lips as she watched him take his first bite of his burger. “It’s good, isn’t it?”

He moaned out an agreement, closing his eyes briefly as he savored the taste. “I am pleasantly surprised, i’ll have to say. What burger did I order again?”

“The filthy beast.” Charlie answered before biting into her own. It was quiet then for a while as the two busied themselves with filling their stomachs. It was odd how easily they’d fallen into a comfortable silence. Even odder, Charlie found, was how easily conversation was during the car ride over and up until they’d sat down with their food in one of the back tables. It reminded her of her childhood, of spending almost every Friday night with Harry, whether it was out getting something to eat, or watching a movie curled up in his bed. She wasn’t sure if her thoughts scared her, or settled her.

“You said this place is around your work,” He covered his mouth, hiding the fact that he was speaking with a mouthful, before he swallowed and took a sip of his beer. “Where are you working now?”

“Just at the Top Shop.” She responded a moment later, not wanting to meet his eyes. She knew he had to be judging her; she would have if she was in his position. “I’m an assistant manager.”

“That’s really good,” he nodded in response before wiping his mouth with a napkin. “What happened with school? You still doing that, or did you finish up already?”

“Uh no,” Charlie squeezed the onion ring between her fingers, watching the outer batter crumble. “When I had Piper, I kind of had to quit school. I didn’t have the time, and I kind of needed a full time job to pay for everything she needed.”

“Wait, so I get that you’re not with the guy, Piper’s father, but doesn’t the guy at least help you out? I mean you shouldn’t have had to quit school, he should be helping you out with the money aspect and with helping watch her while you went to school. Doesn’t he have any part in her life?” Charlie chanced a look at him, and she wished she hadn’t. He was watching her with brows deeply furrowed and a frown appearing like it was permanently etched into his face. Like he couldn’t believe someone could just leave her to raise Piper by herself. Any traces of easygoingness and playfulness were gone as he stared into her eyes with an unreadable expression.

“It’s not his fault,” Charlie insisted, her hazel eyes meeting his and wishing she could just relay everything she was feeling. She didn’t know how she was supposed to say anything to make him understand without completely blowing her cover story. “He’s not in a position to help us.”

“Did he at least try to help you?” Harry pressed, his eyes filled with sadness and Charlie tried to ignore the way they looked like pity underneath.

“If he could help, I know he would.” Charlie assured him, feeling that truth one hundred percent in her heart. “It’s alright though Harry, we’re alright.”

“You promise?” he urged. “You swear that if you needed something, anything, you’d tell me?” His caring nature was shining through, and she could see it in her eyes, he desperately wanted to make sure she was alright. She ignored the warm feeling pooling in her stomach.

“I prominse. You don’t need to worry about me, Harry.” Her voice was soft and she watched as her brain made a decision on it’s own and reached out her hand to set it softly on his forearm, her childhood self wanting nothing more to assure Harry and put him at ease.

He visibly softened at the touch, a sort of sad smile on his lips as his eyes bore into her. “I’m always gonna worry about you, Charlie.”

“You’re a big popstar now,” she tried to make it come off as playful, but it just ended up sounding dejected. “You’ve got more important things to worry about.”

He flinched at that, and Charlie wished she wasn’t so pathetic. She had meant to use this dinner as a way to assure him that she was just fine on her own. That she was doing more than alright and that she’d be perfectly content never running into him again. All she was doing in reality, was showcasing just how weak she really was. “Don’t say shit like that, Charlie.” his face was downcast, his teeth gnawing on his bottom lip. “I’m not the one who ended it. Hell, even after you ended it, I was still always looking out for you and trying to keep in touch. You’re the one who shut me out. It’s impossible for me to ever stop caring about you. I wanna make sure you’re taken care of.”

Charlie let out a tiny scoff, her hand pulling back from him. She ignored that he appeared dismayed by the lack of contact. “I’m not a charity case, Harry. I don’t need you treating me like one.”

“I’m not,” he pleaded, letting out a groan and running a hand roughly through his curls. “God, I didn’t mean it like that. You’ve been my best friend since we were eight years old. I’m never gonna stop caring about you. Me becoming famous and you pushing me out doesn’t just change that.” His voice sounded strained, like it was killing him for him say it.

“Harry, please.” she murmured, her eyes falling down to her forgotten onion rings. “I didn’t agree to dinner just so we could argue about the past.”

He shook his head, reaching a hand out to grip hers. “And that’s not why I asked you here. I didn’t mean for it to go this way. I honestly just wanted to catch up. See how you’re doing.”

“Well, we’ve caught up. You know how I’m doing. And I know how you’re doing and exactly what you’ve been up to, since my daughter is completely and irreversibly obsessed with your band. The amount of teen magazines and autobiographies I’ve bought for a child who can’t even read is extremely unsettling.” She watched as a smile slowly appeared on his lips and she felt hers follow soon after. The tension seemed to be evaporating just from the simplest of smiles on his features.

“How does she feel about Zayn leaving? Proper heartbroken, I’m sure, what with Zayn being her favorite and all.” His tone was playful and she couldn’t help but let out a relaxed sigh, not quite understanding how easy it was for her to be in his presence again and be completely at ease not even a moment after a heated discussion simply because of the way he was smiling at her, or how the playful tone of his voice sounded in her ears.

“I haven’t told her of course, a girl her age? She couldn’t be able to handle the heartbreak, and I’m not going to be the bearer of bad news.” She shrugged, before taking a sip of her beer, wiping the condensation off on her skinny jeans.

“Blissfully ignorant.” Harry concluded, grinning all the while. “I like your parenting.”

+

The drive back was filled with more comfortable silence and the occasional comment about the song playing, as Harry handed his phone over to her, letting her choose from his extensive music library. They chatted about useless things they’d been doing since they last saw each other and Charlie was surprised when they pulled up into the familiar parking lot.

“Thanks for dinner.” Charlie said after a moment of staring up at her apartment complex. She turned to find Harry watching her with another unreadable expression. She tried not to squirm under his intense eyes.

His smile appeared a moment later. “I know it got off to a rough start, but I hope I made up for it by getting us ice cream afterward. I hope you at least had somewhat of a good time.”

“I had a good time, Harry.” she affirmed with a smile and a slight tilt of her head. “Thanks for making time to see me.”

“Of course.” he said. “I wanna see you some more, if that’s alright with you.”

Her smile slightly faltered for a minute and she hoped it wasn’t that obvious. “It’s not that I don’t want to, I just don’t know if it’s such a good idea.”

“Nothing sneaky on my end,” Harry swore, holding up two fingers in a girl scout promise. “Just wanna be friends again.”

After a period of green eyes boring into hazel and even some subscious moving in towards one another, Charlie snapped out of her daze and pulled open the car door. “We’ll see, yeah?”

He pulled his seatbelt off, his hands on the keys in the ignition, but before he got shut the car off, her hand reached out and landed on his forearm. “Don’t worry about walking me up. I’ll be alright.”

He didn’t seem pleased with the refusal, his lips pursed as his eyes scanned her face thoroughly. “Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

“I’m alright, Harry.” she grinned.

“Alright then.” He nodded, pulling his hand off the keys and watching her hand pull away. “Goodnight, Charlie.”

 **  
** “Goodnight, Harry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit long, and hopefully it wasn't utter shit and that you guys liked it. Let me know your thoughts!


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